


Normal

by ishouldwritethatdown



Series: Post-Hephaestus Space Kids [2]
Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Doug Remembers, Back to Earth, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 07:26:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11226147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishouldwritethatdown/pseuds/ishouldwritethatdown
Summary: Finding it hard to be alone, but difficult to be around other people, Eiffel and Minkowski begin adjusting to life back on Earth. They move in together, but the gravity adjustment and the nightmares make it difficult for them both to sleep. Often they'll find each other watching TV late at night just to stay awake. And it's hard for them to remember that they're safe now.





	Normal

The sleepy pap-pap of Eiffel’s feet on the floor was a sound that felt like it should be familiar, but wasn’t. He’d drifted out of his room with a giant yawn enough times for her to recognise the feeling of the moment – but the sound of his feet was still something new. She’d known living in gravity again would be an adjustment, but she hadn’t quite realised how different it would make… everything.

He wandered into the light, squinting. “What are we watching?” he asked, collapsing onto the springiest part of the sofa.

“I don’t even know,” Minkowski replied, eyeing the figures on the TV. “Some predictable drama thing.”

“Oh,” he said, “It’s one of those nights.”

She looked at him. She knew that look; his demeanour said “at ease” everywhere except his eyes, which were fixed on the TV a little too intently. “Bad dreams?” she asked.

Eiffel smiled and nestled into the spot with his feet up on the cushions, “There are other kinds of dreams?”

For a while they watched one-dimensional people bicker in one-dimensional ways on the TV. It required just enough focus to be distracting, and not enough to stimulate their brains in any way. Pretty soon Minkowski could hear Eiffel’s half-snores and shuffling.

She was just on the edge of tiredness, not quite able to fall asleep but by no measure awake enough to move or think about much of anything.

When an ad about shaving cream returned for the eighteenth time with the same infuriating enthusiasm, her attention was diverted to the sprawled-out Eiffel beside her. For a second she was amused by his comical open mouth, but then she noticed that his usual flinching and muttering had petered out.

Her heart stopped. “Eiffel?”

All she could hear besides the TV’s inane ramblings was the ticking of the clock.

Minkowski scrambled towards him as she tried to listen for his breathing – was that a breath? There was no time – and then shook his shoulder, “Eiffel! Doug!”

He bolted awake with a confused flail, “Wha- Uh, I’m- awake!” He blinked several times and searched Minkowski’s face, startled, “What’s happening?”

She sat back, face and hands burning, “Sorry. Nothing. I— thought...“ She couldn’t finish. She glared at the floor instead, willing her racing heartbeat to settle. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Eiffel relaxed into the sofa again. “Oh. It’s okay.” He exhaled as he stared at the ceiling.

Minkowski was kicking herself. “I probably just ruined your first good dream in years,” she cringed.

“Good dreams are overrated,” Eiffel grinned, propping himself up on his hands. “Besides, I’d rather that than head off into the Great White Light without anyone noticing.”

Even the idea made bile rise in her throat. She felt his hand rest on her shoulder. For all his clumsiness and fooling around, he really did know how to be sincere when he wanted to.

The dark circles under his eyes did nothing to undermine their softness when she met them. “Commander. I’m okay,” he assured her.

She nodded, but the old title shook her for a moment. “Renée. We’re normal people now, remember?” she said, as if normal was a badge to wear.

He replied with a skeptical “Hm,” and settled back into the sofa. He held out a hand. She took it and fell in beside him like a jigsaw piece finding its place. She could hear his breaths steadily moving his chest up and down. “We’ll get there,” he murmured.

The sound of his heartbeat was one seared into her brain. She closed her eyes. Felt the gravity pinning her to the ground, the air that flowed all on its own. The sounds of the rest of humanity right outside the window, getting on with their own lives. They were not there any more. His heartbeat slowing down did not have to be a bad thing.

“Yeah.”

She let the sounds of her best friend staying alive put her to sleep.


End file.
